Oval glass-fronted white-metal pendant reliquary theca housing a precious first-class ex praecordis (of the inner organs) pre-canonization relic of Saint Joseph of Cupertino. The relic is affixed to a ground of red-colored silk, surrounded by gilt paperole and silver wire paper ornamentation, and identified in Latin on a manuscript cedula label as Ex Praecord. B. Jos. a Cup. (Of the Inner organs of Blessed Joseph of Cupertino). On the back, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino, O.F.M. Conv. (†1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping. Joseph was beatified in 1753 and canonized in 1767. He is a patron of The City of Osimo, aviation, astronauts, mental handicaps, test taking, students.